Friday, 18 February 2011

Good Writing Day?

By Richard Jay Parker

Done a good day's writing? It's a question I'm asked at the end of most days and the answer is always an emphatic yes/no.

Most writers I know usually feel they've never achieved enough. Even if they could be at their keyboard for 24 hours solid and could remove the need to eat, sleep and pass water they still wouldn't be satisfied with their output. It's sometimes as frustrating as having sex and then having to walk out of the room before you've finished. Not that I've ever done that...

Some writers have a word target for each day but, even if they've surpassed it, find it difficult to turn off the computer and re-engage with real life again. It's a gradual re-engagement as well. Most writers' partners will vouch for that - blank stares and monosyllabic responses over the dinner table because their brain is still in front of the computer.

There are those rare occasions when you actually finish a project and enjoy that brief sensation of closure. But there's always that impulse to edit, adjust, polish or embroider what you've done.

It's a good sign though. We can't shut down from our work as quickly as Windows can because we care about it so much. And, let's face it, we have to before anyone else will.

I think that maybe we writers are perfectionists (& a little bit insecure) so that how ever much we've written and how ever long we've spent polishing it, we feel our worker is never ready for the eyes of the public.Sometimes we have to say 'it's good enough' and draw a line.

I'm currently working on my second book (Although the first is unpublished as of now). The first draft of my first book took forever to write because I was working full-time, writing when I could, and living in the southern U.S. with a faulty air conditioning (hot weather slows my creative cells). I pushed, though, and got it done. The book I'm writing now is going much faster and some of that is due to now being unemployed. It's difficult, I have a very narrow budget, and worry sometimes eats at me, but my writing is getting a lot of attention and I love that. I started out telling myself I would do 1000 words a day, but sometimes things interfered. I currently have a goal of 5000 words a week to give me some leeway and I usually exceed it. I'm grouchy though if I get interrupted and it seems I'm always thinking about the story and characters I have yet to verbally paint clamour for attention. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way.Cassandra Connolly-Brown (Rose Connelly is my pseudonym)I'm at roseconnelly.wordpress.com

Our Mission

The Curzon Group is dedicated to taking the ideas, imagination and energy of thriller writers ranging from John Buchan to Eric Ambler, Hammond Innes to Ian Fleming, and Alistair MacLean to Len Deighton, and reviving them for the 21st Century.

“The tradition of thriller writing should never be allowed to die,” said Jeffrey Archer, when he advised us on the launch of this group. “Not least because we are better at it than anyone else in the world.”

About Us

The Curzon Group is a band of eight thriller writers who get together to have lunch, swap ideas, and come up with wheezes for promoting our books. Matt Lynn, Richard Jay Parker and Leigh Russell can all be found blogging here.

Get The Newsletter

For regular updates from The Curzon Group, and for news of our latest books, just send your e-mail to thecurzongroup@gmail.com.